Dan Hortsmann, a 38-year-old construction worker from Stewartville, and his wife Rachel were sitting in the grass behind the fast-food restaurants along U.S. 52 at 41st Street Northwest in Rochester on Monday afternoon. They were headed home after a weekend motorcycle trip to the North Shore, and almost got stuck in the Obama traffic at Cannon Falls, then decided to grab something to eat and watch the motorcade pass through Rochester. They were among about 50 people, many of them parents with young kids, who gathered on the grassy strip overlooking U.S. 52 behind the restaurants along Marketplace Drive Northwest.
Dan said he's not an Obama fan. "During his campaign, he said he was going bring jobs home from overseas," and eliminate tax breaks and other incentives for companies that ship jobs abroad, Dan said. "I'd ask him why that hasn't happened."
But the president has "a tough job," and times aren't easy. Still, he's interested in Texas Gov. Rick Perry and maybe Rep. Michele Bachmann on the Republican side of the aisle for the 2012 race for the White House.
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Candace Torguson of Cottage Grove was in Rochester with her three kids and waited an hour for the president's bus to pass by on U.S. 52. Her 13-year-old daugher Justyce, who was carrying an ultra-thick book, "The Nine Lives of Chloe King," was the one with the political opinion — she thinks the president is "doing a good job." Her 8-year-old brother, Vincent, had his Game Boy all set to take pictures of the president's bus as it passed. Six-year-old Ava, when asked what she'd say to the president if he stopped, said, "I would say hi."
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Monica Soto, a 36-year-old hair stylist, waved and cheered for the president as his bus passed 41st Street Northwest. With her 14-year-old daughter Justice and 4-year-old son Easton Davis, they had been waiting only a few minutes when Obama sped by. She'd just left a dental appointment and hurried to the highway to watch for the president's bus. "I love Obama — I'm a big fan," she said.
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From Republican rally in Cannon Falls:
Large signs behind the podium where Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus was to speak read "Pres Obama where are the jobs?" and "Pres Obama where is your budget?"
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Rod Johnson of Cannon Falls brought the sound system for the rally. He is honored the president came to his town, but said "it looks pretty much like a campaign swing paid by taxpayers."
Johnson wants to see the country take a new direction in leadership, adding that spending is "out of control" and unemployment rates went higher after Obama's economic stimulus package was in effect.
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Helma Hintz of Hastings, a Republican, had a sign that read: "We need a leader, not a reader" on one side and "Don't mess with U.S. seniors. We worked hard and deserve better" on the other.
"I don't like to feel threatened, especially by the president, to not get our checks out on time," she said.
"He comes on the TV every other day and he talks and talks and talks. That, to me, is not a leader. A leader is a do-er," she said.
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From ticket holders at Hannah's Bend Park in Cannon Falls:
Sharon Hull of Faribault arrived in Cannon Falls at 5 a.m. Sunday to get two tickets for the president's town hall-style meeting.
"I don't think there will be another opportunity to see the president in person. I just have utter respect for President Obama, for what he is trying to do for our country," said Hull, who was with her husband Bill on Monday.
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"I want to hear what he has planned for our future, mainly. The economy is weighing heavily on my mind. How is he going to deal with that?"
